This is no typical suburban home with a sand-colored exterior and a beige garage door.

Ernie Leas' home in Peoria pops with vertical lines of bright colors painted on his garage and a flashy blue front with fluorescent yellow-painted windows.

Leas has lived in the neighborhood near Cactus Road and 75th Avenue since 1985, he said. He painted therainbow of stripes a few weeks ago, trying to use as many colors as possible.He estimates he used close to 100 colors.

Leas is retired, and recently spent his down time fixing up one of his speedboats inside the garage. He works on different projects to keep busy. Painting his home is one of them.

Mixed reaction from neighbors

This is the colorful house at the 7400 block of W. Columbine Drive in Peoria, Nov. 1, 2017.(Photo: Tom Tingle/The Republic)

Most of the people who stop by compliment the new look, he said.

"It’s just an overwhelming response, everybody likes the artwork, praises me for doing the artwork," Leas said. "A couple of the neighbors thought of doing the same."

But not everyone is so impressed by his latest creation, or those that came before it.

Gloria and Norbert Dombrowski, who live one street south of Leas, are angered by the rainbow-like home. They think it's a bad look for the neighborhood.

Peoria resident Ernie Leas painted a rainbow of stripes and a flashy blue front on his home in October, trying to use as many colors as possible.(Photo: Laura Gómez/The Republic)

What can the city do?

There's little the city can do, although it has received complaints.

Jay Davies, who oversees Peoria police's code enforcement unit, called the home "unusual."

Davies said Leas' colorful house is not breaching any local ordinances.

"We have no ordinance that addresses the aesthetic nature of a particular paint job," Davies said.

But he said complaints extend beyond the paint scheme. They've received complaints about old cars, including an ice cream truck and an ambulance, parked outside the home.

Leas also had a pickup truck loaded with toilets. The city served a violation for debris in public view and Leas removed them, Davies said.

Ernie Leas'home in Peoria is not the typical Arizona home with a rainbow exterior that has some neighbors fuming.(Photo: Carly Henry/The Republic)

Not his first 'unusual' paint job

Leas also ran afoul of authorities when he painted a big middle finger on his garage door last year. Police submitted charges of disorderly conduct, but the charges were turned down by the prosecutor’s office, Davies said.

Leas said the middle finger was "just an expression."

The image was vandalized after a few weeks, he said.

Early this year Ernie Leas painted his Peoria house with graffiti, inspired by the murals along 16th Street in Phoenix. A city ordinance regulating signage forced Leas to repaint to home.(Photo: Ernie Leas/Special for The Republic)

Leas then painted his whole house with graffiti, inspired by the murals along 16th Street in Phoenix, he said. The effort included street-art style figures such as a joker, the sun and the moon, a skeleton-like woman and letters similar to the more artsy alleys of downtown Phoenix.

Those images and text violated the city's sign ordinance, which limits a sign to two-square-feet for residential properties. At the beginning of October, the city served the violation and Leas painted over it with the current geometrical pattern.

Early this year Ernie Leas painted his Peoria house with graffiti,inspiredby the murals along 16th Street in Phoenix. A city ordinance regulating signage forced Leas to repaint to home. Ernie Leas/Special for The Republic

Leas is retired, and recently spenthis down time fixing up one of his speedboats inside the garage. He works on different projects to keep busy. Painting his home is one of them. Tom Tingle/The Republic